People of Wood and Puppets of Bone
by Magic Shade
Summary: An attack when he is young leaves Naruto wounded and crippled. Watch as he grows past these obstructions. Listen as bone cracks and wood splinters. The new Puppeteer has arisen. Puppeteer Naruto with a Twist.


People of Wood and Puppets of Bone

Chapter 1: Flesh

A/N: My re-write of "Falsifying by these Hands." Begins much earlier, but still retains some of the original elements. I will admit that this story is heavily influenced by another Puppeteer Naruto story that is absolutely ingenious. However, I cannot remember its name right now. If I do by some struck of luck remember it, I'll be sure to post it here!

-Begin-

"_Children are as we were_

_Clay, left to be modeled by those hands which we sought._

_But not every hand is a skilled one_

_and not every Child is shaped so well_

_Some are neglected and forgotten_

_And some are left simply to shape themselves…"_

_-Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure_

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of the great city known as Konohagakure sat in a small white hospital room. He had survived Two Great Ninja Wars and stood toe-to-toe with one of the strongest beings ever to exist, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He had watched as his friends died for him and for their great city, and he had fought in their honor. He had been selected to succeed the Nidaime, and selected the Yondaime to be his successor. He had watched as his successor gave his life to seal the great demon, and took up once more the mantle of Hokage.

Throughout all the events of his life, Sarutobi Hiruzen had never felt as powerless and as weak as he felt right then and there. In every instance before in his life, Sarutobi had been able to do _something_. If his friends died, he could avenge them. If the Kyuubi was destroying the village, he could fight back. If his predecessors had left him enormous amounts of work, he could place the blame on them.

This was the one time in his life which Sarutobi Hiruzen was completely powerless to do anything about the poor boy who lay in the stark white hospital bed before him.

His body was wrapped heavily in bandages, slowly seeping through with blood. His eyes lay closed and his breathing was slow. His head was wrapped, but underneath the bandages, one could see the locks of golden blonde hair, barely sticking out from underneath. Three black strokes adorned each cheek, giving him the impression of having whiskers. The lower half of his body was covered in a white sheet, the large black tattoo like symbol on his stomach invisible under the white covering.

Sarutobi had been unable to do anything to stop the violence that had reached this boy. He had done all that he could to give him a regular life. He couldn't give the boy a family. He couldn't give the boy the fortune that he deserved. He couldn't give him the love and support of the people of Konoha. But he could give him a chance. And he had tried to by instating a law forbidding anyone to speak of his burden.

Sadly, it had done almost nothing. The boy was ostracized and tormented by the elder population of Konohagakure, while the younger population followed their example and ostracized him, violence being beyond their scope of understanding. While they detested him, he was still just another child to them, and they couldn't bring themselves to seriously hurt him, while the older shinobi and citizens had no such qualms with attacking a small boy, no older than six.

However, strangely enough it seemed to Sarutobi, that it hadn't been someone prejudiced against this young boy that had inflicted such grievous wounds to the small child in front of him. It had been someone totally impartial to the boy's condition. It had simply been a combination of the wrong place and the wrong time.

It was a little known fact that Uchiha Sasuke had cultivated a relationship with this poor soul. Most likely not out of kindness, but out of his father's command to befriend him in some hope of gaining access to the tremendous power the boy held, but had no way of currently controlling. Regardless of how the friendship was begun, Uchiha Sasuke had come to see the small boy as his one and only friend.

Being a Clan Heir made making friends difficult. The other boy hadn't cared about that at all. He had accepted Sasuke for being Sasuke. Sasuke still held an almost all-consuming desire to surpass his brother Itachi, the prodigy who became an Anbu Captain at the age of thirteen.

The other boy had promised Sasuke that they would surpass Itachi together. Sasuke had willingly agreed.

Itachi forever changed their lives. Not just by giving them motivation. Two weeks ago, Uchiha Itachi attacked his Clan Compound. He mercilessly slaughtered all but two of the current residents of the compound.

One was his younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke. No one was quite sure why he left him alive, although they suspect it had to with the fact that the other resident had intervened at the last moment, and quite possibly saved Sasuke's life.

The other resident who was considered lucky to still be alive was the small boy by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. He had been staying at the Uchiha Compound for a few days as they were celebrating their entry into the Academy for Shinobi Education. They weren't due to enter for a few more months, but they had just received the news.

It was during their celebration that Itachi murdered his entire family sans Sasuke. Itachi had confronted Sasuke once he had woken and heard a noise in his parent's bedroom. Upon entering, he found both of his parents lying dead in pools of their own blood. Itachi had then turned his attention upon Sasuke.

In the midst of this, Naruto happened upon the room. Giving a startled gasp, he alerted the Uchihas to his attention. Itachi, utilizing his newly acquired, and as of yet barely tested, Mangekyou Sharingan, cast an incredibly high-leveled Genjutsu, the Tsukiyomi, on Uzumaki Naruto.

The resulting torture almost placed Naruto in a coma. Itachi had then attempted to kill Sasuke, as he had done to so many others of their family, it was Naruto's quick action of shoving Sasuke out of the way that saved his life. Naruto however, suffered a severe injury. It was the shock and blood loss combined with his severe mental trauma that had landed him in the hospital.

Sarutobi Hiruzen continued to stare at the small boy lying near him. He sighed as he rose to leave, until a slight rasping sound caught his attention. Turning, he found Naruto slowly opening his eyes.

Sarutobi immediately leapt into action, slamming the call button on the wall, summoning the medics. It was with a flood of white that the surge of doctors and nurses rushed into the room and began their battery of required tests.

It was a few hours later, once the tests had been completed and Naruto was actually allowed to move and speak. It was suggested that he not attempt to move too much, so up until that point, Naruto had lain almost completely still, recovering from his ordeal. Sarutobi sat nearby and struck up a conversation.

"Naruto… do you know why you're in here?" The small boy gazed at the old Sarutobi before giving a weak smile.

"Maa… I saved Sasuke didn't I? And then… his brother did something. I'm not entirely sure what it was." The elder of the two sighed.

"I know Naruto. He used a move known as the Tsukiyomi, an S-rank Genjutsu available only to members of the Uchiha Clan that have achieved the Mangekyou Sharingan. It trapped you in a world of his choosing for seventy-two hours. If you could tell me what he did to you, perhaps we would be better able to aid you in your recovery."

Naruto just smiled at Sarutobi. "Nah Old Man. That's something… something I'd rather keep to myself." The elder of the two smiled gently in understanding.

Naruto leaned forward a bit and smiled. He went to place his right arm behind his head as he always did when he gave that mega-watt grin. To his shock, there was no familiar pressure on the back of his head.

He couldn't feel his long thin fingers scraping against his scalp through his thick golden hair. He couldn't feel his arm at all he realized. He chalked it up to his shock from the attack.

"Hey Old Man. I think my arm is numb or somethin'. And my head too. Did they give me some kind of weird drug or something?" The Hokage's sad look was enough to answer Naruto's question without words.

It was with mounting fear in his heart that Naruto glanced down at his arm. He was greeted with nary a stump, covered in bandages blood slowly staining them as the wood staunchly continued to bleed slightly. Naruto gazed over at the Hokage, his face a picture of horror, his right arm missing entirely.

"Hokage-jiji… where's my arm?"

-End-

A/N: As always, my prologues are short. This one introduces the fact that Naruto's arm was lost while defending Sasuke from Itachi, and that he was subject to the Tsukiyomi, yet refuses to speak about it.

Next Chapter! We meet up with Sasuke, the Academy Term approaches, and Naruto learns some horrifying news!


End file.
